Will 2017 regulation changes make F1 better or worse?

In 2017, in an attempt to improve the quality of racing and make the cars faster, Formula 1 Chiefs are set to change the current regulations, with a number of ideas on the agenda.

Some of the main revisions being discussed are the reversion back to wider cars and tyres, in a hope of bringing about more overtaking, increasing downforce and improving aerodynamic performance, as well as looking to cut lap times by three to five seconds. But the new rules being proposed have their doubters, as although the use of wider tyres should improve grip, increasing downforce is only likely to make it more difficult to overtake, due to the dirty air thrust upon a car as it sits behind another, which will in fact see a greater loss in downforce in this situation, than we do now. Cars being wider will also add to this issue, as this will result in narrower track space being available.

Current championship leader Nico Rosberg is one of those concerned with the direction F1 is looking to take, and speaking to Sky Sports the German advised:

“I’m concerned about the fact that we are trying to make the racing more exciting and so I am worried that it is the wrong direction.

“We know that to go quicker we need more downforce which is what we are aiming for and with more downforce it is more difficult to follow other cars. We know that, that is a fact. So I’m worried that it is not the right direction.”

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton however, is all for improving the current show, which the Brit believes is not exciting enough right now, adding:

“It’s not good enough as it is. Things can be better, we should be pushing flat out the full race. I guarantee you Nico wasn’t pushing from lap 10 and Kimi [Raikkonen] wasn’t pushing for 15-20 laps at the end.

“It should be a lot closer, there shouldn’t be an 80-second gap between first and seventh. They should be easily within 10-15 seconds.”

What we would like to see is closer on track action, with more competition coming from throughout the field, instead of just two or three cars. The proposed adaptations may go some way to improving the show and overall performance, but they could also swing in the opposite direction and end up making things much worse. It will be difficult for F1 to get their plans spot on, and they may need to re-consider their current thinking to ensure we do not get another debacle like we have seen recently in qualifying – that would not be beneficial to the sport.

The rules are set to be finalised at the end of this month, after teams and bosses were unable to come to an agreement earlier. This may cause issues for smaller teams as they now look to develop their cars for next year incorporating the new revisions, as well as working on this years car as well. fundamentally the changes should allow more competitiveness throughout the grid, but as always a teams interpretation of the rules could see them come out ahead of the pack.

What are your thoughts on the new 2017 regulations? Let thecheckeredflag.co.uk know in the comments below.